Database Lifecycle Management (DLM) is about enabling rapid, risk-free database development and deployments. However, the most effective DLM processes actually reach beyond the database. Embracing the full scope of it can be daunting, so Grant Fritchey and Matthew Skelton are making it manageable.
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By capturing baseline data, a well-prepared DBA should get a good idea of what potential issues they will face. In this article Erin Stellato looks at Wait Statistics and what they can tell you about your databases.
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The Microsoft Azure platform is evolving fast. Azure SQL Database is riding high on the cloud wave with new features enabled at a fast pace. In this article, Kun Cheng shares a few Azure SQL Database security features that could help developers and DBAs develop and manage a secure SQL Database solution.
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The Microsoft SQL Server product group are evaluating how to better assist with your SQL Server upgrades. With the upcoming SQL Server 2005 extended support deadline fast approaching, they want to understand how to help you migrate to a modern, supported version of SQL Server, and how to provide support and upgrades in future.
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By reading performance counters from services such as SQL Server or Exchange, you can get a wealth of performance information. By automating the process of gathering and storing appropriate counters, you can routinely check a range of devices quickly using visual tools such as PerfMon. By then creating your own counters, you can add counter-based metrics to anything that can be measured programmatically, such as services, applications, processes such as ETL, or deployments. Nicolas Prigent shows you how.
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SQL Server 2016 introduces a new security feature called Dynamic Data Masking (DDM). This tip describes its purpose, shows a brief example of how it works, lists some limitations, and notes how the feature has already changed since CTP 2.0 was first released in May.
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NULLs in SQL are a mixed blessing. The Three-Valued Logic of SQL has its uses but can cause difficulties to anyone who assumes that NULL has a 'value'. It can make reports go horribly wrong in a number of alarming ways, as Robert Sheldon explains.
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